


Adding to the Deck

by theparadoxicalfox, TrulyMightyPotato



Series: Royal Flush [35]
Category: Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Cartoonz is cool as a cucumber, Gen, Ohm is unhappy, Time for backstory!, Vanoss is mostly just confused, pre-AAO, we love backstory
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-12
Updated: 2020-10-12
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:01:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,402
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26961814
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theparadoxicalfox/pseuds/theparadoxicalfox, https://archiveofourown.org/users/TrulyMightyPotato/pseuds/TrulyMightyPotato
Summary: The team is given their assignment. They have to relocate to Boston, where one of them hoped to never return again.
Series: Royal Flush [35]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/699969
Comments: 4
Kudos: 9





	Adding to the Deck

_Saturday, September 1, 1923_

_Quebec_

“You want me to do _what?!”_ Ohm slammed his hands down on the table, completely ignoring the way Cartoonz and Delirious grabbed his arm and shoulder to hold him back. “I’m not going back to Boston!”

“Yes. You are. Those are your orders.” The Faceless supervisor’s voice was flat, emotionless, like she didn’t have the energy to deal with the four of them so late at night. Or ever, really, but most people didn’t. She leaned forward and pushed a file towards him. “This one, specifically, is for you. Sit down and read while I brief you on the rest of it.”

Toonz’s fingers digging into his arm was the only thing that made Ohm sink into the seat and pull the folder towards him. After another moment, in which Delirious loosened his death grip on Ohm, but Toonz didn’t, Ohm reluctantly flipped the folder open and began to read.

“You’re to be in Boston before the week is out.” The Faceless supervisor leaned on one arm of her chair. “The headquarters there are preparing an apartment for you. It’s small, but you’ll only have to live in it for a few months until they can get something more permanent sorted out.”

Ohm stiffened, staring at a line in his orders.

“You can’t be serious,” he said, voice low. “Why? Why me? Why now?”

The supervisor ignored him. “Cartoonz, Delirious, Vanoss- the three of you will operate as normal in Boston.” She seemed to glance at Ohm, gripping the folder so tightly it was beginning to crinkle. “Ohmwrecker will be going undercover in the city’s Italian mafia.”

Toonz’s grip softened a little at that, only for a moment, as if he suddenly understood Ohm’s distress. But he couldn’t, Ohm had never told anyone the whole truth, nobody besides Crimson. Toonz knew the most, but... he didn’t know it all. He didn’t understand what they wanted him to do. He’d spent almost thirteen years running from his past, trying to make a new life, and he’d been _succeeding—_ and now his orders were to give it all up.

“Ain’t something like that hard to arrange,” Toonz asked softly. “I mean, the mafia... they’re not stupid. Ohm’s gonna stand out like a sore thumb. He can’t even speak Italian.”

The supervisor looked over at Ohm, her fingers tapping on the desk between them and her, and remained silent long enough for Ohm to look up.

“You haven’t told them?”

“No, not all of it.” He shook his head. “I... tried to leave that in the past.”

“That’s unfortunate.” A sour expression twisted her face for a moment, and Ohm stared at the desk to keep the surge of anger in check. She didn’t understand. She had no right for that kind of judgement.

The supervisor turned to the other three. “From late 1906 to December 31st, 1910, Boston’s mafia ruled the city’s underground—outside of the Faceless, of course.” She tilted her head. “One deciding factor was a very formidable youth in their ranks. A young man who knew explosives like no other.”

Vanoss and Delirious turned to stare at Ohm.

Toonz merely kept his hand gripping Ohm’s arm. His fingers didn’t even twitch.

Had he already known?

“I’ll leave you to hound him for details later,” the supervisor said bluntly, “but, yes, Ohmwrecker was once part of Boston’s mafia.”

Ohm’s hands slowly lowered until his orders were sitting in his lap, his hands holding them loosely, and the way he was sitting made it clear he wasn’t quite sure what to feel.

“I left that life behind a long time ago,” Ohm said, voice hollow behind his mask. “I never wanted to go back to it. That’s not who I am anymore.”

“I know.” The Faceless supervisor shrugged. “But these are your orders. You have to follow them as much as I do. You don’t have to convince any of us about it, Ohmwrecker. You just have to convince the mafia that you’re still enough of the same person to let you in.”

“You realize,” Ohm said quietly, slowly lifting his head, “if they suspect me even for a second, they will kill me.”

“Yes.” The supervisor stood. “I’m glad you understand the importance of sticking to your story. I highly suggest you study up on what’s in the rest of that folder.” She slid an envelope over. “This has your tickets to Boston. The train leaves tomorrow night, and it’ll arrive late. Once you’re there, the rest of your stuff will be sent. The Faceless there will help you make the finishing touches to your solid story for where you’ve been for the past thirteen years, and you’ll need to brush up on your Italian, though somehow I don’t think you’re nearly as rusty with it as you’d like to think you are.”

“And what are we supposed to be doing while he’s risking his life for y’all?” Cartoonz demanded. “Sit back and watch?”

“Hardly.” She shook her head. “One of your old friends is there, Moo, and he’ll be Ohmwrecker’s handler. The three of you are free to take hits as you wish, but ultimately you’re there in case things go wrong with his mission. It’ll be up to you to pull him out if he’s compromised in any way. And if that happens, you’ll be given new identities somewhere else: Faceless and otherwise. But that’s your job.”

Silence.

Toonz let go of Ohm’s arm and leaned forward, fingers hesitating over the envelope of tickets.

And then he took the tickets, sealing their fates.

“Better start packing,” the supervisor said. “You’re dismissed.”

♣♥♠♦

_Sunday, September 2, 1923_

The train car was quiet except for the click-clack sounds of the tracks going by beneath them. There was a rather simple explanation for that, of course, in that it was two hours after midnight and normal people were asleep by that point.

Despite having a bunk room in the sleeping car, none of the four Faceless were sleeping.

“Hey, Ohm?” Vanoss finally asked, voice hardly audible over the motion of the train.

“Yeah?”

“How long were you going to keep that a secret from us? Your past, I mean.”

Ohm lifted his arms in a slight shrug, despite the limited space above him before the underside of Toonz’s bunk. “I mean-” He sighed. “Forever?”

“Oh.”

“Crimson knew, didn’t he,” Toonz asked, pain in his voice at the mention of the other Faceless. “He knew and- he _still-_ he-”

“Yeah.” Ohm closed his eyes. “He knew. He knew long before we graduated.”

“And he still-” Del growled softly. “It’s a good thing he ran, or I’d be smashing his head into the rails right about now.”

Toonz laughed hollowly. “That’s _why_ he ran, Del. He was the smartest one out of all of us. He knew we were gonna kill him for what he did.”

“Do you think we’ll ever run into him again?” Vanoss asked, acutely aware he was the only one who didn’t know exactly what had happened between Ohm and Crimson—he knew the story of course; heard it more than once, but even now it didn’t make sense so he figured he didn’t _really_ know it.

“If we do,” Ohm muttered darkly, “I have some unfinished business with him.”

They all laid there in silence for a long, long moment.

“Hey, Ohm,” Toonz said.

“Yeah?”

“You know, whatever happens, we’re here for you. If things go wrong and we’ve got to fight the entire damn mafia to get you out alive, we will.”

“Yeah!” Del agreed. “We’re with you- all the way!”

“I’d rather not die protecting you,” Vanoss said, the humour in his voice weak. “Or die in general.”

Ohm chuckled. “Thank you. Really. You don’t know how much it means to hear that.”

Another long pause.

“Hey,” Delirious said suddenly, “you know what being in a new city means?”

“We’ve been to Boston before, Del,” Toonz said dryly.

“Yeah, but all the pretty ladies don’t remember that!”

While the two squabbled over whether that was _really_ an appropriate thing to argue about in the middle of the night while people tried to sleep, Ohm put an arm under his head and stared up, trying to settle his racing heart.

It was time to remember who Wiggles had once been, something he’d spent the past thirteen years trying to forget.

Who _he_ had once been.


End file.
